I had really high hopes for this movie, and thought that maybe Spielberg could make it more depressing, interesting and engaging...
Instead the whole time you just have the green screen feeling, Americanism heroics and other to-puke emotions. It just wasn't authentic at all.
What a world you must live in, where in order to be "authentic" or "interesting" a movie has to be depressing.
I find Oscar Bait infinitely more interesting than ticket bait
Maybe depressing isn't the best word to use here, i want to intertwine it with authenticity once again. This film just looked too honey-like and "sweet-tasting". Didn't convey the right aura for the plot.
shareI thought it was over-produced.
The story line is basically similar to the book (except for the Powers shoot down scene which is laughable). The trouble is that there's just too much canned Hollywood in it for my liking.
I tend to agree there but I did think it was an excellent story. I would not agree that it was American styled propaganda but then again, that's not what you are saying.
shareThe scene where he is packing, and telling his wife he is going "fishing", and she replies, "just tell me something, anything..." Puke...
shareYou know it's based on a true story, right? So yeah, it's a true heroic story.
What does that have to do with anything i said about benig Hollywoodized? Read again. I was describing the fact how the whole movie is shot and filled with HDR effects, green cast just screaming at your face. It does't feel authentic.
shareDid you want a Documentary?
shareBudget difference aside, and it's definitely a big factor here, but how come Europeans are able to make big movies that don't feel "colorful" like this one? Many movies shot in Europe feel depressing and sad, because they try to show it as it was in every gloomy light possible. American war/thriller movies are like a fantasy movies - something young kids dream and draw. They make it look like it.
Budget difference aside, and it's definitely a big factor here, but how come Europeans are able to make big movies that don't feel "colorful" like this one? Many movies shot in Europe feel depressing and sad, because they try to show it as it was in every gloomy light possible. American war/thriller movies are like a fantasy movies - something young kids dream and draw. They make it look like it.
Spielberg delivered what he almost always delivers -- high-end glossy American feel-good melodrama. He's the best in the business. No different than what he did with Saving Private Ryan, Empire of the Sun, Close Encounters and many others. It's a consistent and thoroughly liberal Democrat Hollywood worldview; the irony is that so many America-haters label it evil "propaganda".
Life is a state of mind.
More on the look of the film.
“Visually, Bridge of Spies is a very simple film. You can’t go any simpler, really. It was about a slightly warmer look for the scenes in America, cooler in West Germany, and even cooler in East Germany.” In addition, he worked to create more mystery and drama through the use of harder light on the “bad guys.” He explains, “The lighting style is very much film noir. In the beginning, I was going for shadows, wanting the lighting to reflect the shadowy world of the Cold War, and I was definitely using a lot more hard light than I’d normally use. Once we get into the story, though, it becomes about the relationship between Donovan and Abel, so at that point I went softer with the lighting. Mostly I was concentrating on lighting the actors, making sure that they stood out in the world of the film. It’s more of a stylized look.”
Money.
European movies are not primarily a business, they are a state supported art form. So they have the freedom to do more gloomy and honest movies.
Hollywood is pure business. They have to sustain themselves. And the easiest way of doing that is to produce movies that appeal to the largest possible audience worldwide. So drama trumps reality.
I'm glad that both systems exist. They both have their dis/advantages.
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I missed it in the theatres. But recently saw it on Netflix. Yes, its a very American patriotic film and its very classic hollywood which is to be expected - Spielberg is a classic hollywood film maker. I don't mean he is from the classic hollywood era. I mean he is heavily influenced by classic hollywood film makers like Capra and some others. He isn't really part of the American auteurs that were trying to break a lot of film ground in the 70s. He's the same generation as Terrence Malick and Friedkin and De Palma but he's more classic story oriented.
I saw this film as a sort of continuation of Speilberg's American patriotism history films. Belongs in the same sphere as Lincoln.
I am not an American and neither am a enamoured with American history but this film was very very well made. It gave me the warm syrup feeling inside the stomach -- especially at the end with the long musical exit ending.
Can this really be the end..to be stuck inside of mobile
with the Memphis blues again.